Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I was quite clueless on how to go about it so I went with Mumsy. We reached The Mall and I was looking at the directory to see where to go when this guy approached us and offered his help to register the company for us for a sum of RM150. That's double the fee to start up your own company! Which is, by the way, RM70.

All I can say is, DON'T FALL FOR THEIR RUSE! Registering your own company is so easy... not quick, but easy... and those guys who tout their services aren't actually doing anything for you except filling up your forms because they can't line up and wait for you (it's illegal).

Handy tip: Don't hang out in front of a mall directory or McDonald's because they also hang out there. You don't want them hassling you telling you that it only takes one hour blablablablablabla. The registrar (SSM) by the way is on the 2nd floor above McDonald's.

In the interests of the public, I'm listing the steps to register a sole proprietorship (and keeping your money safe in your purse!):

Get a form to register for a company name and fill it up. It's free. End your company name with the type of work it does eg. Design, Plumbing, Concept etc to save you the hassle of going back and forth when your name is rejected.

Queue up at the counter in the reception area to get a number. This queue moves fairly quickly.

Wait for your number to submit your form. You can either wait inside or outside, as they have the numbers displayed all around the office.

Submit your form and get a number.

Wait.

Hopefully, your name is approved. Collect the paper which approves your name and another form to register the business.

Fill up the form - it's easy and you can do it yourself. Don't bother with those touting jokers.

Pick up another number from the first counter and wait for your number to be called.

Wait.

Submit the form and pay RM70. Receive a receipt with your number.

Wait. This is the longest wait. We had to wait about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

I must commend the women at the counters for being helpful and friendly even though we don't expect them to be. It makes the atmosphere in the waiting room much more relaxed. Kudos to the people responsible for it!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Does anyone else get annoyed with Astro for their crappy service? I don't even have to talk about the service being unavailable message - which, incidentally, is in exactly the same league as the damn Windows blue screen - but what annoys me these days are all the repeats Astro keeps showing.

How many times have I watched Midsomer Murders: A Tale of Two Hamlets? How many times have I seen Asha Gill in Dublin, boating on the River Liffey? How many bloody times have I seen runs and reruns on BBC Entertainment? I admit I don't know if it's Astro's fault, but I can't help thinking it is. Fine, if you want to repeat the current season because there are no new seasons, but please don't keep repeating old seasons!

Midsomer Murders on Hallmark is a fine example. The old seasons had Sergeant Troy as Inspector Barnaby's sidekick. Then the new season came and Troy was replaced by a better looking Sergeant Scott. The next month, Troy is back in the two hamlets. Three weeks later, Scott is saving Barnaby's daughter from drowning. Again.

And now I see Astro adding new channels. I wish they would fix their existing channels before adding new ones. But this is so like Malaysia.

Speaking from the viewpoint of a twenty-something living in the city, two things that matter are: Traffic and TV. As anyone else living here knows, traffic sucks.

But my real complaint is the same as with Astro's. You keep building new roads, but you don't fix your existing ones of potholes, unevenness and ruts. And public transportation hasn't improved so much as to encourage me to use it. I would honestly love to take buses, trains and taxis, but - Buses are late and unreliable, train stations are in inconvenient locations, such that you have to drive there and drive back from there, so you may as well drive all the way to your destination... and I'm just scared of taking taxis alone.

Can't we slow down on the building of new things and pass some of that money on to improving existing services? And just maybe we'll be more willing to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia - because when public toilets are clean and roads are smooth, we don't mind driving around the country to visit our awesome islands and beaches.

***

I was actually gonna end there, but when the subject of public toilets came into my head, I just couldn't stop myself from adding another thought. I know highway rest stop toilets are being cleaned regularly these days, but there's only so much they can do until it becomes the public's responsibility to use the toilet nicely and with consideration. I've seen a mother wash her little kid's backside in the sink before, and I know some people wash their feet with the hoses in the cubicles. That just makes the toilet so disgusting to be in!

I heard an announcement today on Hitz FM telling people to brush their teeth. Crossing the road safely, I understand. Strap your motorcycle helmet securely, I understand. Teaching people to brush their teeth???? In that case, can we also have commercials teaching people how to use public toilets properly?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Thought it was time to change my blog's clothes, and what better theme to use than Christmas!

Haven't had enough time (or geek ability) to give it a complete revamp, so I've just changed minor things. They still cheer up my blog quite a bit, I think.

***

I woke up this morning with aches all over. Even my fingers felt like they were swollen. Hopefully there isn't anything wrong and it's just old age. Haha. Do you realise that the only females who can joke about being old, AREN'T old? You can probably tell what age group a female is in if she can joke about her age.

My dogs are 6 years old this year. I just checked their birth certificates. I always thought they were 5. There's a big difference! It's funny, though... it seems that the older they are, the more energetic they become. I've never seen Foxy prance and bound about as much as she's done all year. Max still seems the same. Maybe Foxy's just having doggie menopause. Opposite of human menopause?

***

I hope the wildfires in California calm down really soon. It's really distressing for the people affected.

Whoa, I'm starting to feel whoozy. I'd better get ready for bed soon. And it's not even 1am yet! I AM getting old.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I haven't mentioned this before, but I was given a job offer a few weeks back, which was pretty tempting in the usual ways (monthly salary, no sourcing for clients, using someone else's more powerful Mac etc!), but pretty discouraging in other ways (being tied to someone else's office, letting them have credit for my work, facing rush hour etc). But on the whole, I was tempted to accept the offer because of the learning experience it would give me. I still have much to learn about designing in print and coming up with creative concepts - and we never ever stop learning - so on that basis, I accepted the job offer soon after it was given to me.

For the past few weeks, there have been salary negotiations - yes, it's taken a while to get to an agreement - but it has been to my advantage in the end. Having spoken to my peers who have their own companies (like me), it's made me rethink my decision about going back to employment status. Plus, talking to them has helped me come up with some sort of strategy to keep a stable monthly income for GOOODPUTTY.

So with that, I'm giving my ex-potential employer a counter-offer that I hope she'll accept, and which is in line with my new strategy :P Am meeting her this weekend, so wish me luck!

Another interesting piece of news is that I'm gonna be offered partner status in another design company I've been attached to on a freelance basis! It seems weird, I know, to be offered a partnership when I have my own company, but we'll see how discussions go pertaining to this.

So that's my work news for now. I think this has been the most open I've been about my current work situation ever. I just wanted to share this experience with others who might be in a similar situation and unsure about how to progress.

My best advice would be to take your time to think EVERY single aspect out. When I first got the job offer, I just ignored the nagging feeling inside me that I would hate being tied to a 9-6 job (in my case, probably longer), and just thought about how it would be nice not to have to look for clients anymore. But now, I know that it's worth it, not only for creative, but for working independence as well.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Grandpa G's gone back to UK now so I'm pretty bummed out, but on the bright side, I've got time to update my blog (oh joy).

Grandpa G and I took a trip to Low Yat one day. It was super jammed cuz it was just before Raya. BUT it would have been LESS jammed if it weren't for some bloody idiot driver who happily stopped his car, blocking an ENTIRE LANE in front of the BB Plaza taxi stand.

Because of him, all of us who were on that lane had to wait for a kind driver on our right to let us in, so that we could continue on our journey. Seriously! There was no space to stop on that lane, yet he chose to just stop and block us all.

Therefore, I've decided to embarrass the idiot and take a picture of his car and number plate, so that if any of you see this car, just throw some eggs at him, will ya? The driver was an Indian man in shirt and trousers.

That's not all, though. He couldn't just sit and hide in his car... oh no, he had to show off his idiot face and get out of the black car to have a smoke! I was so hoping the cars would go so near his car that he couldn't open the door, but as if that would stop him anyway.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a shot of the driver, but here's the car anyway.

On a funny note, once we reached Low Yat and parked, there were advertisements on the lift doors and we saw some really weird and un-understandable sentences that were supposed to promote the product.

Check out the descriptions under the pictures. Does anyone know what romantic movement is? Or soft lighting in touch? What about sensitive cable management? Is that when you move the cables slightly and the power goes out? Cuz I used to have a table lamp like that. Frustrated the heck out of me!